Many thanks to Michael DeLang & Phyllis Feigenbaum for their contribution. Please help Swans financially. Year to date: $950.54.
Just that you know we have been publishing Swans for 17 years without interruption, in spite of many inconveniences and accidents, and little money, always attempting to bring food for thought to our readers and an opportunity for our collective of writers to express themselves, with careful attention to editing and formatting details. We hope we shall be able to carry on, which is not a given. This said...we begin with a powerful piece by Glenn Reed on the oil and natural gas boom that is rapidly altering North Dakota's landscape; the beauty of the environment and the majesty of the bison falling victim to the whims of the free market. If bison can become pawns of the free market, why not people? Case in point: the prison-industrial complex -- not a laughing matter, but an interesting topic for a brilliant comic to which Paul Buhle introduces us. So what is the solution to a more equitable society? Not irrational ones like macrobiotics, as Michael Barker concludes in Part II of his series on the food faddists. Irrationality is the bane of Gilles d'Aymery's existence, particularly that of the conspiracy industry, whether 9/11 or the Sandy Hook school shooting and now even the Boston Marathon massacre. And no, more guns are not the answer...all this and more in his Martian Blips.
Turning our attention to Germany, Peter Byrne offers two perspectives: a short story on getting to know the Germans through different eyes, including the Italian Neorealist filmmakers, and his thoughts after a recent visit to Berlin on the real and the fantasy city. Raju Peddada reflects on the death of a father and Hector Abad's searing memoir on the subject, Oblivion, and Guido Monte gives us a glimpse into his night thoughts through his dreamy poem. We close with your letters, on Jan Baughman's article on gun control and child victims, and the butterfly effect of the chaos rippling through the French economy, psyche, and presidency.
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Genn Reed: Boom And Bust In North Dakota
The oil and natural gas boom is rapidly altering North Dakota's landscape. More...
Paul Buhle: Incarceration Illustrated
Race to Incarcerate: a Graphic Retelling is a brilliant illustration of the kind of democracy that has increasingly incarcerated its citizens through politics, profits, and fear -- forget rehabilitation. More...
Michael Barker: The Macrobiotic Faithful (Part II of III)
Part II of a critique of George Ohsawa's Taoist-inspired macrobiotics. More...
Gilles d'Aymery: Blips #135
A few selected issues that landed on the Editor's desk, from the Boston marathon massacre and the reactionary conspiracists who reacted similarly to the Newtown shootings and 9/11; the futility of answering irrationality with rationality when more guns are always the answer; to Murphy's Law and recurring local problems, and more. More...
Peter Byrne: Our Germans
A short story on getting to know the Germans through different eyes, including the Italian Neorealist filmmakers. More...
Peter Byrne: Everybody's Berlin
After his recent visit to Berlin, the author considers the real and the fantasy city. More...
Raju Peddada: Hector Abad's Memoir: Oblivion
On the death of a father and Hector Abad's searing memoir on the subject, Oblivion. More...
Guido Monte: as if a dream
Guido Monte runs through his night thoughts, as if in a dream. More...
On Jan Baughman's article on gun control and child victims, and the butterfly effect of the chaos rippling through the French economy, psyche, and presidency. More...
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